Precede
On the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the proclamation of King Charles III, photographer Rob Maccoll reflected on some of his encounters over the decades and photographic assignments with the Royal Family, known by insiders as The Firm.
My earliest memory of the Queen is as a young kid growing up in Townsville in 1954. I can just remember being pushed to the front of the crowd lining the road and this big black car driving by with a white glove waving from the back seat.
In 1963 I stood with thousands of school kids in the baking sun at the Ekka to get another brief glimpse of the white glove. This time it was in the back of a Landrover
Then in 1977 I was working as a cameraman for ABC-TV and filming from the top of a huge scaffold as the Royal yacht Britannia sailed down the Brisbane River accompanied by hundreds of small boats. The ship berthed right in front of my camera and there it was again waving from the deck.
I then moved to Sydney and worked as a stills photographer for the Australian Information Service which was the Federal Government’s media organisation. Part of my job was being an official photographer for visiting Heads of State and for Royal Tours – the Royal Family. An awesome job with travel on VIP jets, five star accommodation and no stopping at traffic lights.
So it was no surprise to see the white glove on several occasions during the ’80s.
Her Majesty was a dream to photograph. She knew exactly what was needed and would pause and chat and smile. As long as you stayed within the brief: don’t get in the way, no pictures while eating, don’t speak until spoken to, just take a couple of images and never ask for just one more.
I saw the glove several more times when she visited Queensland for CHOGM at Coolum and to meet the victims of the 2011 floods in Brisbane.
I also spent time with Prince Philip when he came out as patron of the Duke of Edinburgh Award.
This was a much more low-key affair with just a few officials travelling with the Prince.
Because I had to sign the Official Secrets Act I can’t say too much, but a good time was had by all and he did enjoy a cold beer on a hot day.
The future King also popped up in front of my camera a few times.
One notable occasion was just before he went off to marry Princess Diana.
He’d been travelling around the country playing polo and was being followed by 30 Fleet St photographers keen to get the first photo of him falling off his horse.
It was the final day of the tour, the final polo match and the final chukka.
The Pommie snappers had given up and gone to the bar and I was loading film into my camera when I heard a roar, looked up and saw Charles falling off his horse. He wasn’t happy with the picture splashed across page one of all the world’s newspapers and his mum rang him and banned him from riding until after the wedding (so I was told by one of his aides).
I really hope he’s taken over the white glove.
I’d love to see it again.
